Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain, also spelled Borenstein or Bernstein, was the fourth Rebbe of the SochatchovHasidic dynasty. He acceded to the position of Rebbe following the death of his older brother, RabbiDovid Bornsztain, the third Sochatchover Rebbe, who died in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. Rabbi Dovid's children were also killed during the Holocaust, leaving no survivors. As Rabbi Chanoch Henoch had moved to Mandatory Palestine and established a beth midrash in Jerusalem during the 1920s, his assumption of the title of Admor relocated the Sochatchover dynasty from its home in Poland to the new state of Israel, where it flourishes to this day.
Biography
Chanoch Henoch was the second son of Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain, the Second Sochatchover Rebbe, and his wife, Yuta Leah. He grew up in the presence of his illustrious grandfather, Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain, also known as the Avnei Nezer, who founded the Sochatchover dynasty. In 1924, Rabbi Chanoch accompanied his brother Rabbi Dovid to Palestine for the purpose of acquiring land to establish a Hasidicsettlement. Rabbi Dovid put a down payment on a plot of land south of Ramle. When he returned to Poland to raise the rest of the money, however, his plan was thwarted by an economic depression that hit Poland shortly after his return. He eventually lost his rights to the land, as well as the money he had invested in it. Meanwhile, Rabbi Chanoch stayed in Jerusalem, living first in the Bucharim neighborhood and then settling in the new Bayit VeGan neighborhood, where he established a beth midrash. Upon the death of their father, the Second Sochatchover Rebbe, in 1926, Rabbi Dovid acceded to the leadership of the Sochatchover Hasidim, while Rabbi Chanoch continued to live and study in Palestine. After World War II, when Rabbi Chanoch heard about the death of his brother in the Warsaw Ghetto, he was inconsolable. Later, he accepted the request of the Sochatchover Hasidim to be their leader. He established his court in Jerusalem, preferring to remain in that city even during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when his followers in Tel Aviv urged him to join him there. Rabbi Chanoch led the Hasidut until his death on 23 September 1965. He is buried on Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem. His son, Rabbi Menachem Shlomo Bornsztain, succeeded him as Rebbe.
